Swim it is a virtual swimming event where we are asking you to swim 21 miles (the length of the English Channel), at your own pace, at your own time over 2 months and at a location of your choice. The event will be taking place from the 1st June to the 31st July. We will support you with every step (or length) of the journey and ask that you raise vital funds to help people living with cancer.

You can sign up online now at: Home Page - Macmillan Swim It

Registration opens on 1st April 2026. Simply complete the registration form on our website! You’ll then receive an email from JustGiving and an email from us to confirm you’re all signed up.

If you experience any difficulties signing up, please email swimming@macmillan.org.uk or call 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm) for assistance.

No it is completely free to sign up to Swim It!

We encourage every participant to raise £250 to provide vital funds to support people living with cancer.

You are more than welcome to complete Swim It as a team, however everyone in the team will need to register individually for their own fundraising page. This is so we can send you emails about your challenge, and each person in the team can track their progress, as well as receive any incentive items should they meet the criteria.

Once you're all signed up, you can then link your pages together under one team on JustGiving. Log into your fundraising page, click edit page and create/join a team from there.

Start swimming in your chosen location on 1st June and make sure to get to that 21 miles and reach your fundraising target by the 31st of July.

If you complete and log your 21 miles on your page within the challenge months, and fundraise at least £10, you’ll receive your very own Swim It medal! And if you’re one of the first 100 people who complete 42 miles by the end of July, and have raise £10, you’ll receive a Swim It pin badge!

The  Swim It Challenge is to swim 21 miles, approximately the length of ‘The Channel’ This equates to 33.8km and 1351.77 lengths of a standard 25m pool (rounded up to a full length).

Here is a breakdown of how many lengths you would need to do per swim, depending on how many swims you plan to do each week. We have based this on taking the full 8 weeks to complete the challenge.

The challenge can be completed wherever you like, however please ensure your safety at all times by swimming in lifeguarded areas.

The beauty of this event is that you’ll get stronger as you go, and there’s no need for extra training. You’ll be doing it at your own pace, in your own time. If you do want any extra training tips, click here to see our swimming training guides.

If you have any concerns about your health or fitness, please always speak to your doctor first.

If you need support about being affected by cancer, our Macmillan Cancer Support Line offers confidential support to those living with cancer and their loved ones. If you are worried about money, work or treatment or just want to speak about whatever matters to you, we'll listen and support you. Call us for free on 0808 808 00 000.

Once you've raised your first £10, you'll receive your swimming cap (please note this can take up to 2 weeks to arrive in the post). 

If you haven't received this after 2 weeks, please direct message us from the Facebook group, or email your address to swimming@macmillan.org.uk with the subject: 'Swim It – Swimming Cap', and we will get this to you as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, our Swim It stock is limited so we can’t send additional products to you. Please see our T&C’s for more detail on incentives.

Yes, absolutely! The beauty of Swim It is that you can do your swims in any location. Your JustGiving page allows you to accept donations from friends and family all over the world.

However, please note that we can only send incentive items to addresses within the UK.

We will be encouraging everyone to start the challenge on 1st June. However, if you are joining the challenge later or have missed a few days, you can continue into August.

Swim It welcomes all ages and abilities. Under 18s are welcome to take part but they’ll need an adult to register on their behalf as we can only communicate with an adult. Under 18’s should not register with their own details, and the Facebook group is strictly for supporters over the age of 18.

You are more than welcome to take part; however, we do ask that you please consult with your doctor or midwife to ensure that the challenge is suitable for both you and your baby. Please do also adapt the challenge according to your needs.

We do encourage that you contact your doctor for professional medical advice before starting the challenge as we want you to remain safe whilst you swim your miles.

Join our Facebook group here. This is a great place to meet fellow swimmers and share your top Swim It tips.

Our Supporter Care team monitor the group intermittently Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.

No, however we do love to see your photos so make sure to share them on our Facebook group or tag us @MacmillanCancer.

The only thing that matters is that you challenge yourself and that you are doing something incredible to support people living with cancer. However much you achieve, we're so grateful for your support and for helping us do whatever it takes to help more people with cancer get the best care the UK has to offer, whoever and wherever they are.

Congratulations on completing the distance so quickly! If you’ve logged the distance on your page and raised £10, you can expect a medal in the post from us at the end of July. If you’d like to keep going, there are bonus milestone badges that you can reach.

These go up to 200% so you’ll be swimming all the way back again! If you are of the first 100 people to complete 200% (42 miles), and raise £10, you’ll receive a Swim It pin badge!

This is where you can keep track of how many miles you’ve completed and your fundraising, all in one place. You can personalise it by adding your photo, your story, and regular updates.

It's where you'll start earning virtual badges for both your swimming and your fundraising. It’s easy to share your fundraising page with friends and family, so you can show off how you're getting on, and they can support you by donating.

When setting up your JustGiving page you will have chosen a password - don’t worry if you've forgotten it!

You can check your emails from Just Giving to retrieve your login details, or head to the JustGiving Help & Support page for help logging into your account.

It’s so motivating to see how far you’ve gone, and your supporters can also follow your progress and cheer you on. That’s why we’ve made it extra easy to track your distance through your fundraising page by logging your lengths.

Follow these simple instructions:

1. Count your lengths manually or with a waterproof fitness tracker for swimmers.

2. Log in to your fundraising page using your JustGiving sign in details at swimit.macmillan.org.uk

3. Scroll down to your “Latest Updates” and click the green button that says “Log fitness” (available from 1st June).

4. Enter the distance you've completed.

5. Click save and your page will automatically update with your new total.

Distance tracking becomes available when the challenge begins on 1st June. Don’t worry if you can’t see it before then – it will automatically appear when you log in on the first day of the challenge.